I am an owner of a 2.5W Arctic S3... Now what?

I used an online shipping service to purchase a Arctic S3 in the US from the Wicked Lasers website. I got it in the mail yesterday, and to be honest I’m afraid of using it. Before this, the highest powered laser i owner was a 50 mw green laser pointer I got from eBay, so this is definitely an upgrade. I was so excited to recieve it but now that I have it I genuinely don’t know what to do with it. I’m afraid I’ll blind myself if i try to burn things at close distance with it. The only thing I’m comfortable doing with it is shining it in the sky.

As any noobie would, I have a couple questions:

Do I have to wear safety glasses when I point it at the sky? I’m not looking at the “dot” I’m looking at the “line” in the sky?

Can I trust the saftey glasses that came included with it? If not, what is the best eye protection that money can buy?

What extra predautions should I take other than saftey glasses when operating this laser?

I paid a lot of money to smuggle it into the US, but my eyes are priceless. Honestly, I’m a little uncomfortable with such a powerful laser. It is by far the coolest thing I own but it may not be for me. If I happen to want to get rid of it I’m the future, let me know if you’re interested in it.

Mr Raviolay said:

I used an online shipping service to purchase a Arctic S3 in the US from the Wicked Lasers website. I got it in the mail yesterday, and to be honest I’m afraid of using it. Before this, the highest powered laser i owner was a 50 mw green laser pointer I got from eBay, so this is definitely an upgrade. I was so excited to recieve it but now that I have it I genuinely don’t know what to do with it. I’m afraid I’ll blind myself if i try to burn things at close distance with it. The only thing I’m comfortable doing with it is shining it in the sky.

As any noobie would, I have a couple questions:

Do I have to wear safety glasses when I point it at the sky? I’m not looking at the “dot” I’m looking at the “line” in the sky?

Can I trust the saftey glasses that came included with it? If not, what is the best eye protection that money can buy?

What extra predautions should I take other than saftey glasses when operating this laser?

I paid a lot of money to smuggle it into the US, but my eyes are priceless. Honestly, I’m a little uncomfortable with such a powerful laser. It is by far the coolest thing I own but it may not be for me. If I happen to want to get rid of it I’m the future, let me know if you’re interested in it.

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Welcome and enjoy the forum.

Always use lasers goggles with it.
Take some time and study up on laser safety here: Laser Pointer Safety - A comprehensive resource, for safe and responsible laser use

Have a look here at what one member had happen from a 1W 445nm blue laser---keep in mind eye damage occurs in less time the the human blink reflex on 0.25 seconds--so be careful. see: https://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469.html

PS You can't sell anything on LPF except in the Buy, Sell and Trade subforum and there only after you have met the requirements of a minimum of 20 posts and a positive reputation + you advert is approved by a moderator--so if you don't want it -- sell it on eBay.

I don’t know the quality of wicked laser glasses, but these are known to be high quality:

https://www.survivallaserusa.com/Ea...er_Laser_Safety_Goggles/p1667092_7862524.aspx

Looking at the beam in the sky is safe, just making sure there are no aircraft or vehicles you may present a distraction. Hitting an aircraft with a laser is a very serious crime in the US.

Looking at the dot may or may not be safe depending on the material and the distance you are from the dot. I would not use the laser inside at all without glasses, even when shining on nonreflectice surfaces.

Stay safe

Gazen said:

I don’t know the quality of wicked laser glasses, but these are known to be high quality:

https://www.survivallaserusa.com/Ea...er_Laser_Safety_Goggles/p1667092_7862524.aspx

Looking at the beam in the sky is safe, just making sure there are no aircraft or vehicles you may present a distraction. Hitting an aircraft with a laser is a very serious crime in the US.

Looking at the dot may or may not be safe depending on the material and the distance you are from the dot. I would not use the laser inside at all without glasses, even when shining on nonreflectice surfaces.

Stay safe

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Thank you for replying. I checked out Survival lasers and ended up purchasing these:

https://www.survivallaserusa.com/Ea...5_Laser_Safety_Goggles/p1667092_11309188.aspx

Please let me know if this is overkill for a 2.5 watt laser. I didn’t get the ones you linked me to because the website states that you can stare at the beam with the glasses on as long as it’s 1 watt or under. The goggles I got, in addition to blocking up to 1700 NM also block IR light. The site states it is safe to look at the beam of a laser under 100 watts, Do you think these are better?

Encap said:

Welcome and enjoy the forum.

Always use lasers goggles with it.
Take some time and study up on laser safety here: Laser Pointer Safety - A comprehensive resource, for safe and responsible laser use

Have a look here at what one member had happen from a 1W 445nm blue laser---keep in mind eye damage occurs in less time the the human blink reflex on 0.25 seconds--so be careful. see: https://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469.html

PS You can't sell anything on LPF except in the Buy, Sell and Trade subforum and there only after you have met the requirements of a minimum of 20 posts and a positive reputation + you advert is approved by a moderator--so if you don't want it -- sell it on eBay.

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Ah, i see. My bad, I didn’t know. But thank you!!

If you are not shining the laser on a reflective surface, it can't blind you. It could be uncomfortable to look at the dot up close, but even on a white wall it is only a bright light. Now, if you hit glass or other surfaces that can reflect even part of the collimated beam you will run the risk of eye damage. But, as you can see the dot from anywhere in the room, it is just a light source that decreases as the inverse of the square of the distance the dot is away from you. You won't blind yourself lighting brown paper on fire, but do it outside as it will set off your smoke detectors. I personally use goggles when I am setting up lasers with mirrors and glass or metal diffraction gratings, but I am never not in control of a laser in my possession.

So are you saying that it’s okay for me to remove my goggles so long as I am shining outside/shining to infinity (the sky)?
How far away should I be when burning things from my 2.5W laser?

Can I get your opinion on these goggles? Thanks.

https://www.survivallaserusa.com/Ea...5_Laser_Safety_Goggles/p1667092_11309188.aspx

I've seen WL products dissembled, well torn apart as they are not built to be serviced, many are pretty much glued together, and they were constructed with poorly fitted parts and a lot of thermal paste, you will likely never get back even half your money.

If you point to the sky 1st you should look and listen to be certain there no aircraft anywhere in the sky, it's a very serious crime to point a laser even in the pathway of an aircraft, and you need to wear the appropriate laser safety glasses designed to attenuate the wavelength you are lasing with, I would not trust the cheap Chinese glasses that come with a WL product.

Mr Raviolay said:

So are you saying that it’s okay for me to remove my goggles so long as I am shining outside/shining to infinity (the sky)?
How far away should I be when burning things from my 2.5W laser?

Can I get your opinion on these goggles? Thanks.

https://www.survivallaserusa.com/Ea...5_Laser_Safety_Goggles/p1667092_11309188.aspx

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Those glasses will work for your 445nm arctic, and any other violet and green lasers. They will also protect you from the ir common in cheap 532nm(green) lasers, and much of the ir you will encounter in pointers. Survivallasers sells quality products, you can trust them to be reliable.

Just make sure you still use safe practices even when your goggles are on, don't do anything stupid like staring at the beam.. (Even though the glasses should protect you)

Yes, it is safe to view the beam in the sky. Paul is correct, but personally I am paranoid and do not like to view diffuse reflections from high powered lasers within 10 feet or so.

As RedCowboy said, wickedlasers has a poor reputation on this forum, if you purchase another laser try a trusted manufacturer like sanwu or jetlasers.

To suggest to someone who has never had a laser and bought a 2.5W 445nm to just go outside without goggles , use it, and all will be OK is both reckless and irresponsible as well as hypothetical wish. Nobody else has even 1 second of experience with you in particular to be able to say that nor can they predict what you will actually do, much less evaluate same.

Keep the goggles on until you know what you are doing and how a laser behaves---how it handles and what it does handling it in the real world meaning- 2.5W is very dangerous and the slightest mistake could be a big one. Things you don't think are reflective can be very much more reflective with laser light than your experience will tell you should be the case.

Know that if you make a mistake and you are in the path of an aircraft or hit one it is big fines and/or jail time.

Really before you get going study the laserpointersafety web site here: Laser Pointer Safety - A comprehensive resource, for safe and responsible laser use

Keep in mind other people and what they may or may not do, like call the police and report you if they see a bright laser beam in the neighborhood scanning around.

Look at this laser hazard chart---it take is a much less that 1/4th of a second to do permanent damage to your eyes or other people's eyes. A laser accident happens at the speed of light and so fast there is no way to correct or mitigate the situation once it is in progress/happening.
Attempt to be as absolutely certain as possible that what you do with it is safe to do--accidents are called accidents for real reasons--you don't want to be the victim of a laser accident.

See this laser hazard chart to understand the eye damage distances: http://www.lasersafetyfacts.com/resources/FAA---visible-laser-hazard-calcs-for-LSF-v02.png[/QUOTE]

Encap said:

To suggest to someone who has never had a laser and bought a 2.5W 445nm to just go outside without goggles , use it, and all will be OK is both reckless and irresponsible as well as hypothetical wish. Nobody else has even 1 second of experience with you in particular to be able to say that nor can they predict what you will actually do, much less evaluate same.

Keep the goggles on until you know what you are doing and how a laser behaves---how it handles and what it does handling it in the real world mean 2.5W is very dangerous and the slightest mistake could be a big one--things you don't think are reflective can be very much more reflective with laser light than your experience will tell you should be the case.

Just know that if you make a mistake and you are in the path of an aircraft or hit one it is big fines and/or jail time.

Really before you get going study the laserpointersafety web site here: Laser Pointer Safety - A comprehensive resource, for safe and responsible laser use

Keep in mind other people and what they may or may not do, like call the police and report you if they see a bright laser beam in the neighborhood scanning around.

Look at this laser hazard chart---it take is a much less that 1/4th of a second to do permanent damage to your eye or other people's eyes. A laser accident happens at the speed of light and so fast there is no way to correct or mitigate the situation once it is in progress/happening.
Attempt to be as absolutely certain as possible that what you do with it is safe to do--accidents are called accidents for real reasons--you don't want to be the victim of a laser accident.

See this laser hazard chart to understand the eye damage distances: http://www.lasersafetyfacts.com/resources/FAA---visible-laser-hazard-calcs-for-LSF-v02.png

Click to expand...

[/QUOTE]

Thanks for bringing me down to earth. I have owned a 200mW laser in the past, so I do have some experience with high powered lasers. But as you suggest, the goggles will stay on. You are absolutely right about everything. I checked out all the material you’ve sent me, and I will continue to learn about my state laws and regulations regarding the usage of high powered lasers.

I intend to use it conservatively, if and only when there is clear airspace.

What are some common reflective surfaces that aren’t common?

The glasses you posted are a good choice but want to add the 190 - 540nm OD6 slip overs that Gazen linked although they don't cover IR have a 50% light transmission compared to the 20% of yours.
Alot for me mentioning it is that when glasses are to dark to show a spot of maby trying to light a match or burn anything for that matter, some might lift them off for a second to see just where the spot is hitting, and that split second could be all it takes for something to go wrong. These 50% visibality glasses offer the same or in this case more protection at OD6, but your laser at 2.5W OD3 is even fine..
The IR amount in the 532 dpss isn't really all that much and is contained to shoot straight across just about and the quality units do have a IR filter.

Mirror's, glazed items, shiny exposed metal appliances, "common sense" thinking like even say a metal ashtray or metal dog food bowl could cause reflextions.
If you want a beam stop use a brick, cinder block or a big bathroom or kitchen tiles reversed non glazed back and could paint it flat black..

Mr Raviolay said:

What are some common reflective surfaces that aren’t common?

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Huh?
Mr. Ravioli use your noodle.

steve001 said:

Huh?
Mr. Ravioli use your noodle.

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:crackup:

Is there a common troll question that's not common.....

Keep up the good safety information everyone, it's never wrong to advise laser safety. :gj: